VIDEO: Maui Bus adds 3 new vehicles to fleet: Ridership exceeds 2.3 million

By Wendy Osher

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnBkAd6Qn4o[/youtube]

The County of Maui added three new buses to its fleet today, bringing to 18 the number of large capacity buses in the Maui fleet. Transportation Director Don Medeiros said Maui recorded over 2.3 million boardings in FY 2010, marking yet another milestone for public transportation on Maui. Last year, an average of 450 Maui Bus passes were sold each month. Last month the department sold a total 1200 bus passes.

“Two million riders—that is incredible,” said Council Chair Danny Mateo. “Which tells you,” he said, “that the demand and the need for bus transportation—and not just any bus transportation—reliable, dependable service—is really needed in this county, and this is what the Maui Bus provides.”

“It is not uncommon in a given day on some of the long-haul routes that 150 people will board a bus in a two-hour span,” said Medeiros.

The three new busses can carry 37 people and about 20 standing passengers if necessary. For disabled passengers, there are ramps at both the front and rear of the busses that allow the driver the flexibility to get passengers on and off board pending the infrastructure at various stops.

“It’s so gratifying to see that some ideas that were talked about ten years ago, have come to fruition and have grown so exponentially,” said Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares.

“The people have just embraced this transit system and it shows by the support that they give by riding it,” said Tavares. “I know it has helped many families to help make transportation affordable so that they can stretch their limited dollars especially in these economic times,” said Tavares.

The busses cost $379,492 each for a total price tag of $1.138 million with a majority of the funds ($977,811) coming from Federal stimulus monies and the balance ($160,665) coming from the county of Maui.

(Posted: 1:46 p.m. 7/8/10)

Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares (center) and Council Chair Danny Mateo (right) were among the dignitaries on hand as the county accepted three new buses into the Maui fleet this morning. Photo by Wendy Osher.